On Nov 29, 6:16 pm, Phisherman wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:21:52 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03





wrote:
On Nov 29, 3:28 pm, "Frank" wrote:
Just finished my outdoor lights and I saw the guy next door standing on the
metal ladder with lights all around him connecting strings of lights
together. Made me think about how many guys have been hurt --shocked or by
falling from a ladder while doing a"Family Christmas" thing.
I guess I have more respect of electricity than is needed, in fact
I cover all connections with plastic wrap and try to seal them water tight.
Just a thought for a Merry and safe Christmas.
Frank

You wanna hear about ladder safety? I took yesterday off to clean my
gutters since the weather is supposed to turn colder and windier with
freezing rain and snow all the way through the weekend and beyond.
Yesterday's temperatures were in the mid-30's when I began the job.

The leaves were frozen in the gutters so I hooked my hose up to the
hot water spigot and let the water melt the ice and keep my hands
warm. After about an hour of trips up and down the 28' ladder, I
realized that the ladder was getting slick from the water freezing on
the rungs. I began to use the hot water to hose down the rungs before
I went up or down, which gave me enough time to clean each arms-length
of gutter before the rungs got slick again.

Even with the "warmed up" rungs, I was extra, extra careful with my
footwork as I used the ladder.

The lesson? Just like bridges, ladder rungs freeze before other
surfaces.

Plus, hot water freezes faster than cold water. Hard to believe?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Plus, hot water freezes faster than cold water.

This not a universal fact and was probably not the reason my ladder
rungs got slippery.

Hot water freezing faster than cold water, known as the Mpemba effect,
has indeed been known to occur under controlled experimental
conditions. Luke warm dripping off my gutters, the mist/splashing from
the hose and house, the mud and leaves from my boots, etc. was far
from a controlled experiment.

I seriously doubt that the Mpemba effect was in play here.